I've recently started a new campaign, and I've been tasked with building a lvl 8 character. I know I definitely wanna play a wizard, and I'm pretty dead set on being a necromancer. I'd love any advice on optimization and not dying in general. I rolled pretty crappy on my ability scores, so I've only got a +1 in dex, which means my AC is abysmal. I've seen people suggest using mage armor + having shield prepared, taking a level in Cleric to get some armor proficiencies, and maybe even taking feats to help with this. What's the best way to remedy low AC/HP in order to play a powerful necromancer? what spell combos/feats have worked for people? is multiclassing the way to go? any advice is appreciated :)
I started with 1 level in twlight cleric on an evoker for one shots and it worked out well for armor, night vision, and initiative (good since your DEX is low). If you go with heavy armor, dwarf's speed is not reduced by wearing heavy armor...but a Satyr in heavy armor would have the same speed (and magic resistance) or you could try and get mithral plate armor (no disadvantage to stealth and no strength requirement). If you are going armor and shield, get the war caster feat.
Some defensive spells I use: mage armor (if not in a cleric or other build with armor or using a race that has built in armor), shield, absorb elements, silvery barbs. I don't use mirror image or blur as much as I thought I would, but they are options.
I try and pick a race with some natural armor if possible (if no cleric levels) like Loxodon (CON-based armor and other nice abilities), autognome (some nice abilities), and tortle. Mountain dwarves and legacy githyanki get medium armor and some good abilities. One of the hobgoblin options has light armor but I've never tried it, or these with natural armor: lizardman and thri-kreen.
Also, if possible, take the spelljammer background that comes with the tough feat (extra HP) or a Strixhaven background (like Witherbloom for an extra initiate feat and more spell options like healing).
Heavy Armour (so low dex isn't a concern) and Shield proficiency plus a minimum 1 spell of choice such as Healing Word. The Disciple of Life feature means you'll heal a creature more whenever you heal it - even yourself. Or you might opt for something like Protection from Evil and Good. If you have good Wisdom there's also Sanctuary.
Wizard:
You'll get Animate Dead with better undead minions, you heal if you kill a creature and you can get spells like False Life, Shield and Mirror Image for more defence. You can also cast Vampiric Touch at 4th level which deals 4d6 necro damage and heals you half damage dealt - and that means it triggers the Disciple of Life feature since you're healing a creature, so you'd heal yourself an additional 6 hit points. It lasts 10 turns, and the additional uses aren't castings, so you can bonus cast sanctuary or healing word on yourself.
Basically, you have high defence while your undead minions beat people up and you're sucking your enemy's life force to sustain yourself.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Santa themed Necromancer. Black and red suit/hunting leathers instead of red and white. Have I'm carry corpses, skeletons, zombies, etc, in a bag of holding that he carries on his shoulder.
You will have decent ac, 4 damage resistances at lv 11 and a decent amount of hp& death ward .
Spells I suggest if you want to avoid damage are 1.Absorb elements 2.shield 3.feather fall 4.silvary barbs 5.counter spell 6.death ward 7.false life 8.wall of force 9. Mind blank 10.lemonds tiny hut 11. Find famlair 12. Sanctuary 13.guidince 14.bless 15.healing word 16.shield of faith 17.waterbreathing 18.air bubble 19. Misty step 20 mirror image21. Clone 22.Wish All of which you will have access to with this build .
When I last ran a necromancer, the interesting bit was having at least 13 charisma to pick up Inspiring Leader. Your undead followers don't get to ignore your ramblings and thus get your level + charisma bonus in temporary hit points.
To not die, give your enemies something else to attack, like your undead minions! Present them openly while you take cover; full cover is best, followed by 3/4 and then 1/2, but any is often better than none. Frontline party members work, too, but remember that their players have full agency over their characters and to respect their choices.
Next is your choice of undead. Zombies are durable and can sometimes not flop over dead when dropped to 0, while skeletons offer ranged attacks to help kill stuff faster. I prefer the latter for not being completely stupid with instructions and not stinking up a place, but that's just my personal preference.
I'd recommend lightning bolt over fireball here. In enclosed areas, you can spread your minions out just enough and thread the line between them. Poison AOEs (i.e. cloudkill)are also rather nice, as undead generally are immune to that.
Mind the size of your horde! It's easy to keep a 3rd level slot available to maintain control over 4-5 minions, but going bigger makes logistics tough. If you need to expend those last slots of the day, have the undead kill each other and finish off the last survivor before time runs out. They can be raised again later.
I've recently started a new campaign, and I've been tasked with building a lvl 8 character. I know I definitely wanna play a wizard, and I'm pretty dead set on being a necromancer. I'd love any advice on optimization and not dying in general. I rolled pretty crappy on my ability scores, so I've only got a +1 in dex, which means my AC is abysmal. I've seen people suggest using mage armor + having shield prepared, taking a level in Cleric to get some armor proficiencies, and maybe even taking feats to help with this. What's the best way to remedy low AC/HP in order to play a powerful necromancer? what spell combos/feats have worked for people? is multiclassing the way to go? any advice is appreciated :)
I started with 1 level in twlight cleric on an evoker for one shots and it worked out well for armor, night vision, and initiative (good since your DEX is low). If you go with heavy armor, dwarf's speed is not reduced by wearing heavy armor...but a Satyr in heavy armor would have the same speed (and magic resistance) or you could try and get mithral plate armor (no disadvantage to stealth and no strength requirement). If you are going armor and shield, get the war caster feat.
Some defensive spells I use: mage armor (if not in a cleric or other build with armor or using a race that has built in armor), shield, absorb elements, silvery barbs. I don't use mirror image or blur as much as I thought I would, but they are options.
I try and pick a race with some natural armor if possible (if no cleric levels) like Loxodon (CON-based armor and other nice abilities), autognome (some nice abilities), and tortle. Mountain dwarves and legacy githyanki get medium armor and some good abilities. One of the hobgoblin options has light armor but I've never tried it, or these with natural armor: lizardman and thri-kreen.
Also, if possible, take the spelljammer background that comes with the tough feat (extra HP) or a Strixhaven background (like Witherbloom for an extra initiate feat and more spell options like healing).
Food, Scifi/fantasy, anime, DND 5E and OSR geek.
1 level Life Cleric
7 levels Necromancy Wizard
Cleric:
Heavy Armour (so low dex isn't a concern) and Shield proficiency plus a minimum 1 spell of choice such as Healing Word. The Disciple of Life feature means you'll heal a creature more whenever you heal it - even yourself. Or you might opt for something like Protection from Evil and Good. If you have good Wisdom there's also Sanctuary.
Wizard:
You'll get Animate Dead with better undead minions, you heal if you kill a creature and you can get spells like False Life, Shield and Mirror Image for more defence. You can also cast Vampiric Touch at 4th level which deals 4d6 necro damage and heals you half damage dealt - and that means it triggers the Disciple of Life feature since you're healing a creature, so you'd heal yourself an additional 6 hit points. It lasts 10 turns, and the additional uses aren't castings, so you can bonus cast sanctuary or healing word on yourself.
Basically, you have high defence while your undead minions beat people up and you're sucking your enemy's life force to sustain yourself.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Santa themed Necromancer. Black and red suit/hunting leathers instead of red and white. Have I'm carry corpses, skeletons, zombies, etc, in a bag of holding that he carries on his shoulder.
Witherbloom student background+Necromancy wizard subclass +tiefling +infernal constitution+lv in cleric &tough feat.
You will have decent ac, 4 damage resistances at lv 11 and a decent amount of hp& death ward .
Spells I suggest if you want to avoid damage are 1.Absorb elements 2.shield 3.feather fall 4.silvary barbs 5.counter spell 6.death ward 7.false life 8.wall of force 9. Mind blank 10.lemonds tiny hut 11. Find famlair 12. Sanctuary 13.guidince 14.bless 15.healing word 16.shield of faith 17.waterbreathing 18.air bubble 19. Misty step 20 mirror image21. Clone 22.Wish All of which you will have access to with this build .
When I last ran a necromancer, the interesting bit was having at least 13 charisma to pick up Inspiring Leader. Your undead followers don't get to ignore your ramblings and thus get your level + charisma bonus in temporary hit points.
To not die, give your enemies something else to attack, like your undead minions! Present them openly while you take cover; full cover is best, followed by 3/4 and then 1/2, but any is often better than none. Frontline party members work, too, but remember that their players have full agency over their characters and to respect their choices.
Next is your choice of undead. Zombies are durable and can sometimes not flop over dead when dropped to 0, while skeletons offer ranged attacks to help kill stuff faster. I prefer the latter for not being completely stupid with instructions and not stinking up a place, but that's just my personal preference.
I'd recommend lightning bolt over fireball here. In enclosed areas, you can spread your minions out just enough and thread the line between them. Poison AOEs (i.e. cloudkill)are also rather nice, as undead generally are immune to that.
Mind the size of your horde! It's easy to keep a 3rd level slot available to maintain control over 4-5 minions, but going bigger makes logistics tough. If you need to expend those last slots of the day, have the undead kill each other and finish off the last survivor before time runs out. They can be raised again later.